Process of refining and agglomerating ores and the like.



H. DICKE.

PROCESS 0F EEFINING AND AGGLOMERATING DRES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, 1904.

Patented Mar. 7, 1911*.

sfrarns ramena* orales.'

HUGO DICKE, OF ERANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO JACOB EDUABD GOLDSCHMID, OF FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, GERMANY.

PROCESS OF REFINING AND AGGLOMERATING ORES AND THE LIKE;

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 7, 1911.

.Application flied may as, 1904. 'serial N6. 209,794.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGO Droits, head engineer, residing at 14 Neue Mainzerstrasse, Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, have invented new and1 useful lmprovements in Processes of Refining and Agglol'nerating Orcs and the Like, of which the following is a specification.

The present 'invent-ion relates primarily tn 'the treatment of those ores which can only be smelted with difficulty, first on account of their physical condition and secondly on account-of the injurious foreign substances which they contain. To this class belong more particularly the friable iron ores. l

According to the present invention ores of the aforesaid class are treated in a revolving furnace in such manner that their objectionable physical and chemical characteristics are renderedcinnocuous, and so that there will pass out of the furnace from the dusty material (containing injurious substances) which was charged thereinto a refined product of lumpy consistency, which approximates the general formula of Fe304. This is a result which cannot be obtained with an ordinary revolving furnace, for the reason that in the latter the method of firing is unsuitable. The practice has generally been to employ coal dustas fuel. It has also been proposed to pass the gaseous products of combustion from an ordinary furnace grat-e through such furnaces for the purpose of drying the ores and of causing them to fuse together. But this is yonly possible in a few simple cases and the addition of certain materials or even of coal dust for t-he purpose of facilitating the fusibility of the ores has been necessary. Such amethod has great drawbacks and is not adapted for extended use.

According to my invention the revolving furnace is heated by a water gas flame whereby entirely new results are achieved and many fields of use are opened up. By the employment of a water gas flame, not only can all the results heretofore obtained be effected in a more simple and certain manner, but it is also possible (owing to the peculiar formation of the flame) to so perform the operations in the furnace thatoxidation or reduction and fusion, shall take place at will.

The essential advantage of the water gas flame over the processes hitherto used is the possibility 'of regulating its na-ture according to the nature of the material undergoing treatment.

In the practice of my invention, I have ascertained that what is called -a neutral water gas flame viz. a liame out `of a mixture to which exactly the chemical equivalent of air is added will reduce ores of the formula Feg()3 to Fe3'04; and Vthis will even keep on, if the lflame is slightly oxidizing.

The Iiame is to be regulated so that no flame appears outside the end of the furnace. Hereby the oxygen evolved by the reduction is to be taken into account. The products so obtained are ready for treatment in blast furnaces or any equivalent apparatus. l

The possibility of regulating the character of the fiame allows of the treatment of other products also as for instance the waste products of sulfuric acid works, of anilin works, and of the copper metallurgical processes.

These substances (known as pyritis einden and blue-billy) are extremely difficult t0 treat in the blast. furnace because owing to their friability they render the column of the furnace charge too dense. `Moreover they often contain a high percentage of substances such as arsenic or sulfur which have an injurious effect upon the quality of the pig iron. The presence of zinc moreover may lead to the formation Vof a crust of zinc sponge which lnot only injures the quality of the iron but also prejudiciallyaffects the actual working of the blast furnace. In the manufacture of lead or copper, a similar unfavorable effect is produced by the presence of arsenic, antimony and sulfur.

The Working of the furnace may be so regulated as to enable three zones to be disy particularly for the treatment of 'iu'rple ore (blue-billy), or the residues of roasted pyrites (pyritis cinder) orth like, in which sul-fur, zinc, and lead are required to be removed from the iron beforethe latter isl smeltedl in the'blast furnacefor before`v` itsl v passes through the drying zone c and then enters the oxldizing zone d. Here the sulfur, arsenic, zinc and the like are oxidized and also volatilized, While the residual ore begins to `fuse together in lumps and nodules. Any zinc which has not yet been volatilized as zinc oxid passes'int-o the reducing zone e where it is volatilized as metallic zinc. Any lead that may be present is also reduced and melted here, and runs off through the annular passage f (which is provided with apertures g) `into molds k. The ore passes out from the lower end of the furnace not only in a physical condition adapted for blast furnace treatment, but also purified, and in a lower stage of oxidation.

For the purpose of keeping the oxidizing and reducing zones effectually separated from each other, the gas and air are preferably admitted wholly or partially at different places. The wide pipe mv serves for the admission of the Water gas which can become ignited at the mouth of this pipe even Without any previous admixture of air, while the quantity of air which is necessary for complete combustion or the excess air requisite for oxidation, is admitted through the air pipe n at a place situated farther back.

It is obvious that, by regulating the quantities of gas and air admitted, as Well as by the manner in which and thev place whereat the gas and air are mixed together, every -possible desirable result can be obtained.

This adaptability of the furnace constitutes its chief value, since it enables materials to' be treated which have` no homogeneous or uniform composition.

. The furnace is to be used in the same manner whether iron ores, copper ores or byproducts containing a high percentage of copper, are to be treated, the lead, zinc, sulfur, arsenic and antimony being similarly separated. These separated products may be recovered for use according to the special economic conditions in each case. As will be seen by the drawing the waste gases may bev cooled by means of a Water spray so that the volatile metallic oxids are, precipitated` in the form of mud and may be removed` in' that condition. i

lVhat'I claim is: f 1; The process of agglomeratin-g fine iron ores or residues, which consists in subject-ing .the same to a temperature which shall cause the particles thereof, due to the impurities contained therein, to fuse sufficiently to bey consists in eliminating the sulfur by means of an oxidizing atmosphere at a temperature best suited lfor that purpose, and then mov# ing the mass into a temperature which shall cause the particles thereof, due to the impurities contained therein, to fuse sufliciently to become semiplastic and sticky, and agitating the mass by revolving it about a horizontal or inclined axis,

3. The process of agglomerating fine iron ores or residues, which consists in passing the same through a. rotating kiln having a region in which the degree of temperature shall cause the particles thereof, due to the impurities contained therein, to fuse sufficiently to become semiplastic and sticky.

4. The process of desulfurizing and agglomerating fine iron ores or residues, which consists in passing the same through a rotating kiln, in one part of which it shall be exposed to an oxidizing atmosphere ata temperature best suited for its desulfurization, and in another part of which it shall be exposed to a temperature which shall cause 'the particles thereof, due to the impurities contained therein, to fuse sufiiciently to become semiplastic and sticky.

5. The' method of treating friable ores and the like preliminary to their reduction in a blast furnace orthe like, by a Water gas flame in a revolving furnace.

6. The method of treating friable iron ores preliminary to their reduction in a blast furnace or the like` by a regulable Water gas flame in a revolving furnace producing a lumpy product of the formula F e304.

7 The method of agglomerating pnlverulent iron ores orthe like, which consists in effecting the dissociation of FegO3 therein into FeRO, by the action of a heating liarne, and nodulizing, by rolling the mass.

'In testimony whereof, I have'signed my name to this specification, in the presence of Vtwo subscribing witnesses.

HUGO DICKE.

Witnesses: JEAN GRUND, CARL GRUND. 

